Simon's Journey
by machew0
Summary: Simon is on a quest to save Marceline, a little girl who he cares for deeply. But Simon has his own inner demons he needs to worry about. Disclaimer: I do not own Adventure Time, this is just my personal viewing of what possibly happened with Marceline and Simon during the Mushroom War.
1. Chapter 1

Simon's Journey

Prologue

Here we follow the story of a man. A man named Simon Petrikov. Simon is a survivor, a survivor of the Mushroom War. No one knows exactly how it all started, but bombs were being dropped on all of the major cities of the world. Simon survived the fires and explosions for only one reason. He survived because of the magic that dwells within the crown hanging by his side. For this crown held a great and powerful magic. Whoever wore this crown would gain the power of ice and snow, but at a great price, their sanity. Simon has had the crown for so long that his hair turned white and shaggy, with a full grown beard the reached his collarbone. His teeth sharpened into fangs, his skin turned light blue, and his nose grew abnormally long. He wore his suit and bow tie, along with his glasses, which had a large crack on the left lens. His appearance was the least of his problems; his mind was slowly slipping away. Voices with no origin spoke in his mind of how the crown shall save him with its frost. Day and night the voices spoke, telling him to embrace the power of the crown and just give in to the insanity. He kept hold of the little piece of himself by remembering the woman he loved, Betty, and a sweet little girl who he will meet on his journey to survive. This, O reader, is where our story begins.

Chapter 1: The Day we met

Simon came into the city ruins to look for supplies, when all of a sudden… crying. By the sounds of it, it was the sobs of a little girl. Simon followed the sound and saw a little girl crying in front of a demolished toy store. He saw this was no ordinary girl. Her skin was light grey, and protruding from her mouth were two little fangs, and had little pointed ears, running through her raven black hair. It didn't matter how she looked, Simon had to help her. He threw down his backpack and ran to the girl. He knelt down and wiped her tears away. He went to the toy store rubble and grabbed a red stuffed bear, and walked back handing the girl the bear. The girl smiled at the gesture, eyes red from her tears.

"Hello, don't be scared I want to help you, my name is Simon, what's your name, sweetheart?" Simon said

The girl looked up a little shyly

"My name is Marceline," the girl said in a soft voice

"Hi there, now Marceline, why are you crying?"

Marceline stifled a sob, "I've lost my mommy,"

"Well why don't we go look for her, how does that sound?"

Soon Marceline began to sob again, and Simon sat there with a confused look on his face. Then it hit him. She "lost" her mother.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry darling,"

Simon didn't know what to do; this little girl was all alone in the wreckage of this city with no one to take care of her.

"Well, do you know where your dad is?"

"Yeah, he comes from a place called the Nightosphere, but I don't know how to get there,"

Simon's eyes widened. The Nightosphere was a place that was nothing but a myth, a fantasy world from ancient mythology. However, given the girls odd appearance, it could be true, but for now he decided to let it go.

"Well Marceline, I can't take you to the Nightosphere," Marceline began to cry again, "but, you could come with me, and we could look for someplace safe to live."

At the sound of that Marceline's eyes widened and gaze filled with hope

"You mean it? I can come with you?"

"Of course," he said smiling and standing up, "And I promise to protect you and keep you safe from harm until all of this is over."

He then extended his hand and Marceline held it. As they walked through the ruined city the two had gotten to know a little about each other.

"How old are you, Marcy?" Simon asked, he started calling her this, because he thought it was cute and suited the little girl.

"I'm six and three-quarters, how old are you?"

"I'm 46, but I probably look like an old man,"

Marceline looked curiously at the crown that swung back and forth at his side, mesmerized by the shiny red jewels.

"Simon, why do you have that crown with you?"

'_Oh no'_, he thought, '_what do I tell her? I can try to change the subject, no; no I shouldn't avoid the inevitable'_

Simon sighed, "This crown has been with me for a while, I use it for protection, whenever I put it on it gives me powers to fight against wild animals or anything else that's dangerous but it causes me to… act different."

Marcy looked up curiously, "Would I be able to try it on?"

"No!" Simon cried, "Marceline only I can use it, it's very, very dangerous, and I only use it to protect myself in dangerous situations, it's not something to be messed with."

Marceline shifted a little from the crown, obviously a little scared. Then came a gurgling sound

"I'm hungry," Marcy said.

"Well let me take a look through my backpack and get something for us to eat for lunch," he searched through his backpack and pulled out to shiny apples, "Here you go Marceline, something healthy, and delicious."

"Thank you Simon, I love apples!" she said smiling.

Together they sat there eating their snack. Marceline held on to her new stuffed bear, which she elected to name Hambo. '_She has nowhere to go and is all alone,' _Simon thought _'I'll be the one there for her, I'll keep her safe from all harm… but will I be able to protect her from the crown.'_

"Simon you haven't eaten much of your apple, are you okay?" Marcy asked worriedly.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, just thinking,"

Once they finished eating they made their way to the woods on the outskirts of the city, to make camp. Once they found a nice place, they started a fire and rolled out the sleeping bags. Simon read a book while Marceline played with Hambo and soon it became night and Simon told Marceline it was time for bed. He read her a story and tucked her in with Hambo.

"Goodnight, Marcy,"

"Goodnight, Simon"

Simon was going to go to bed, when-

"Simon, I wanted to thank you for helping me, I was all alone and scared, and you came to help me, you're my knight in shining armor," she kissed him on the cheek and snuggled back in the sleeping bag.

Simon felt his cheek and smiled. This little girl was the light at the end of his dark tunnel. He smiled as a tear of joy rolled down his cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Just a heads up There will be 8 chapters in total for the whole thing and I will be posting the first few chapters, just so I don't keep you on edge and wanting more. If I sound Narcissistic about my own writing, please forgive me. However after I've published chapter 3 I'll be taking longer in uploading new chapters, just to keep you on edge for a while. Jerk move right? Please enjoy.**

Chapter 2: The Power of Ice and Snow

Simon and Marcy have been camping in the woods for a little over a week now, and had gotten settled in. There was fresh fruit growing in the forest so they were always able to get some food whenever they wanted and didn't have to ration. Simon had been traveling by himself for so long that having Marceline with him made everything a lot better. She'd make him laugh as they played games to pass the time and Marceline was always there to make him smile. All throughout the war he had felt nothing but fear and turmoil from all of the devastation around him, but all of that went away now. However new fear had sprung up within, Simon was in constant worry for Marceline's safety. She was just a little girl; she couldn't survive on her own, what would happen if he wasn't around to protect her. It's strange, they had met such a short time ago, and now it felt like they have known each other their whole lives. The two had been sitting around the campfire that morning, talking, when Simon noticed the fire was going out.

"Looks like we need to find some more firewood," Simon said

"Awww, do we have to? I just got comfy," Marceline groaned

"Yes darling, I don't want you to be alone, now come on, on your feet,"

Unwillingly Marceline got up with a very audible groan. Simon ruffled her hair affectionately as they walked around the area looking for some wood. Marcy had finally quit her complaining and decided to help get some fuel for the fire. Together they gathered some fallen twigs, branches and leaves around the area. Suddenly there was a crack of a branch and a rustle of a few bushes coming from the distance.

"What was that?" Marcy asked a little nervously

"I don't know, Marceline stay close to me,"

More rustling came from the bushes and through the thicket came a wolf, yellow eyed and snarling. Along came a few of its friend, coming in from different sides. A whole hunting pack of rabid wolves had found them, and they were hungry.

"Marceline stay behind me," Simon told her.

She held onto his pant leg tightly as Simon reached for the crown at his side. He hesitantly put it on his head and then he blacked out.

Marceline's POV

Simon had just put on the crown and laughed maniacally. Marceline backed away from him a little nervous.

"I call upon the power of ice and snow! BOW DOWN TO YOUR KING!" he cried

With that he blasted the wolves with beams of ice and flurries of snow. Some were frozen solid, others were trapped in mounds of snow, and the rest had wizened up and ran for it. However Simon still kept blasting the forest, covering the entire area in a thick blanket of snow.

"Simon, you can stop now! The wolves are gone!" Marcy yelled

"Not now Gunter, I'm busy creating my world of winter!"

Marcy grabbed some snow, made a snowball and chucked it at the crown on Simon's head. As it was knocked off, Simon collapsed on his knees, rubbing his head. He looked over at the Marceline and saw that she was shaking and wide eyed.

"Oh dear, Marcy, what did I do? Did I hurt you?" Simon asked worriedly

Marceline shook her head, "No but you acted crazy, shouting about a world of ice and calling yourself Ice King, you also called me Gunter, don't you remember anything?"

Simon shook his head glumly, "No, only bits and pieces, what happened was just a blur and I can't recall what I did."

He looked around to see the damage. Snow covered the ground and icicles grew on the trees, and he jumped a little at seeing the frozen wolves.

"Look Marceline, I'm sorry if I scared you, I can't control myself with the crown on, I-"

She took his hand and smiled, "It's okay, I'm just happy to see that we're both okay, and now we're safe,"

"We're going to need to pack our things up and get going, I think those wolves will be back soon, and they're going to bring some more friends with them."

They walked back to camp, gathered their things and continued walking through the forest. Together they walked for the rest of the day only taking brakes to eat and rest up a bit, but after that they'd be continue walking.

_I'm worried about Simon,'_ Marceline thought _'he doesn't seem to be telling me everything about the crown, how he got it, or why he keeps it if it makes him act that way"_

Marceline thought for a moment and decided now was not the time to talk about this. Soon it was dark and they eventually found an old shack to stay the night in. Simon rolled out the sleeping bags once they were inside; he tucked Marcy in and told her goodnight. As she drifted off to sleep, she wondered, what would lie ahead for them.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! If you decided to skip out on reading my last note in the second chapter and wanted to just skip to the story, then read this. I have all the chapters of the story written out in my journal, but after this chapter I'm going to take longer in posting them, so I can keep you in suspense. I'm that evil, I know. Just a heads up the next few chapters were kind of a tear jerker for me writing them, so I'm sorry if you feel the same way when you read them. I wanted the story to feel authentic. Also I wanted to give a shout out to the first 2 reviewers of my first ever fan fiction. Thank you to EmmaWinterFrost and Leon. It means so much to me that you guys really like my story! Please give me some more feedback if there is anything I need to work on. Enjoy

Chapter 3: The People We Care About

Darkness. Nothing but pitch black in an abyss of nothingness. In the center of it all stood two people. A man and a woman, holding each other in their arms. The man was olive-skinned, with brown hair, circle rimmed glasses, and wearing a dark suit. The woman in his arms wore a green sweater, wearing glasses with pointed ends, and had beautiful auburn hair. Together in the darkness, they were as happy as can be; all that mattered was that they were together. Then disaster struck. Snow began to fall from the sky and the ground beneath them shook. Out of the ground came a giant golden crown with red jewels encrusted into it. It rose between the two lovers and separated them as far as possible. Then a giant icy hand reached from the darkness above and pulled the woman into the black. The man dropped to his knees, shivering, and sobbing, all while screaming her name. Betty. That's when Simon woke up screaming and covered in a cold sweat. He woke to see Marceline next to him, with concern filling her gaze.

"Did you have a nightmare Simon?" she asked

Simon let out a shaky breath, "Yes, yes I did. And it was the most terrifying nightmare I've ever had."

He rubbed his temples to trying to remember where he was. Then he remembered that he and Marceline had stayed the night in an abandoned shack. Marceline sat next to him rubbing his shoulder.

"Don't worry Simon, nightmares aren't real, whenever I wake up from a bad dream, I'm always happy to know that it wasn't real at all," she said reassuringly

'_Oh but some nightmares are all too real, and some nightmares are ones from our past,' _Simon thought.

"Yeah, you're right Marcy, I'm just glad it wasn't real," he said to get Marcy to stop worrying, "How did you sleep Marceline, did you have any bad dreams?"

She shook her head, "No, I can't really remember what I dreamed last night, but I did sleep pretty well,"

After they had some breakfast, consisting of fruit and granola bars, the two got their stuff together and got ready to continue on their journey. Simon and Marcy stepped out into the wilderness. The air was crisp that morning and there was a cool breeze. Marceline was still a bit groggy, so Simon lifted her on his shoulders to carry her while she got some time to wake up. Simon began walking south looking at his map to find any landmarks nearby with some supplies. He saw there was a nearby town with a supermarket and decided that they would be able to get some canned goods and maybe some water there. With Marcy on his shoulders he headed south in the direction of the town. Looking back he could see some of the snow from the previous campsite had blown its way to the area and was turning into slush. _'I need to be more conscious of what I do with the crown on' _Simon thought, _"If I don't I could seriously hurt Marceline," _That's when he was reminded of Betty. He remembered the dream he had last night, playing over and over again in his mind. Betty. Where was she now? Had she made it someplace safe, or had she burned in the fires of the bombing along with the millions of other innocent lives. Simon quickly put that thought out of his head and focused on walking. Soon, they made it to the little town on the edge of the forest. From a distance Simon could see the supermarket at the end of the street.

"Hey Marceline, do you think you could walk now? My shoulders are starting to ache," Simon asked

"Okay sorry about that, thanks for carrying me," she said politely

"Oh there's no need to be sorry, I'm just here to be a human pack mule," he said smiling

Marceline giggled and held onto Simon's hand as they walked down the desolate street. The entire town was a mess. Buildings half demolished, cars crashed into trees, and fallen down power lines. This town wasn't hit with a bomb; the panic of the town's residence must have caused this destruction. They soon made it to the supermarket and looked around for any signs of supplies. Most of the food and supplies had been pilfered, but there was enough to last only two people a good amount of time. It was around noon, since the sun was above their heads as they walked inside, so they decided to have some lunch. As they sat there eating their canned foods at the food court, Marceline spoke up.

"Who's Betty?" she asked

Simon choked on his water and went into a coughing fit for a few seconds. Once he was better he responded, "How do you know that name?" he asked

"You kept saying her name while you were having your nightmare, is she someone important?"

Simon sighed glumly, "Yes, she was the most important person in my life before the war started, she was going to be my wife. I loved her more than anything, but she left me after I…" Simon couldn't form the words

"After you… what?" Marceline asked

"I really don't want to talk about it right now," Simon said sadly, "I'll tell you another time; let's talk about something else, who's your dad Marceline, what's his name?"

"His name is Hunson Abadeer," she replied

"And is he a good dad?"

"Of course he is, he makes me laugh, he takes care of me, and he always makes sure that I'm happy, he's the best dad ever!" she said in a defensive voice.

"Ok, I'm sorry, I just wanted to know," Simon said raising his hands up in defense.

Simon pondered it. If Marceline's dad is from the Nightosphere, could she be a demon? Well then why is she in the human world? Could it be her mother was human? Is she a half-demon? What kind of father would leave their daughter alone in this world? So many questions were running through his mind. He came to the conclusion that these questions would be unanswered for now and went back to eating.

"Hey Simon, what was your job before this?"

He smiled, "I was working with ancient artifacts, and was studying them to become an antiquarian,"

Marceline tilted her head to one side, with a puzzled look on her face.

He sighed, "An antiquarian is someone who finds old ancient things and studies them,"

"Oooohhh, so you find these things and study them, that sounds really, really boring,"

Simon chuckled, "I suppose it did get boring at times but I enjoyed it, I just wish I could have been able to get the job,"

"I'm sure you would have been the best, um, whatever that word is,"

"Antiquarian darling, say it with me,"

Marceline tried to say the word with Simon, but after trying over and over, she gave up in frustration. Simon laughed and told her she'd get it eventually. Once they had finished eating Simon and Marceline got ready to leave, and they stepped back outside. In the distance Simon saw a little playground.

"Hey Marceline, want to go play over there for a little bit?" he asked

"Yeah!" Marceline jumped with joy and ran over to the playground.

"Slow down Marcy! Wait up!"

Simon ran to catch up with her and once he got there he was out of breath. He looked to see Marceline by the swings.

"Will you push me on the swings?" she asked

"Well of course," he said, "I thought that you'd never ask."

She climbed up and sat patiently on the swing. Simon gave her a good push and she laughed while yelling "Higher! Higher!"

Meanwhile

In a dark room lit with nothing but candle light stood a man. Through the sight of a crystal ball he saw an old, blue skinned man, with an abnormally long nose, pushing a little girl on a swing. The man eyed the little girl with such interest.

"Oh Marceline, my little baby girl has to grow up in a desolate and dangerous world, instead of being here, safe in my arms."

His eyes drifted over to the man pushing her on the swing.

"Petrikov," he muttered under his breath, "I don't know if I should thank you for caring for my daughter, or be full of rage that you can't keep yourself from losing control with that crown at your side."

He clenched his fists, "I swear if you hurt her in anyway, I Hunson Abadeer shall personally kill you myself!" he calmed himself down and unclenched his fists, "But of course, you can't even hear me."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everybody I'm finally posting the next chapter in the story of Simon and Marcy, I really hope everyone is enjoying it so far and will want more. For my first ever fan fiction I am getting some really positive feedback and I want to say thank you so much for your support. Maybe if I get enough support for this story I'll think of posting the chapters more often (totally not an obvious hint). Now this chapter was a little tricky for me to write and I'd be happy to go into details about it another time, but for now just enjoy it, and don't try to question to much about it if something is a little too confusing, so for now, enjoy!**

Chapter 4: Marceline's Birthday

3 months had passed since Simon and Marcy had met, and now they were as close as father and daughter. They had only each other in this world and they were happy to be in each other's company. The night before the two had decided to stay in an abandoned house, and they gotten to sleep in actual beds. That night Simon was able to get a peaceful night's sleep, without nightmares or insomnia. That morning Simon had woken up refreshed and ready to take on the day. As he looked outside he saw that the sun was already high in the east, and realized he had overslept. When he went to go wake Marcy up he saw that the room she was sleeping in was empty. He quickly went downstairs into the living room and saw Marceline sitting on the floor playing with Hambo.

"Good morning!" she said, "You must have been really tired."

"Yeah I was, so how did you sleep Marcy?" he asked a little groggy.

"I slept great! It's really nice to have a warm bed to sleep in rather than on the cold ground in a sleeping bag."

Simon smiled, "Alright let's have us some breakfast, how does that sound?"

"Yeah I'm getting pretty hungry," she said rubbing her stomach

Simon walked into the kitchen and was about to grab some food from his pack until he saw a little calendar hanging on the wall. For some reason the calendar was set to October, this month and a little date was circled in pencil. Simon thought for a second. No one had been in the house before them, the whole place was covered in dust, and so shouldn't that calendar be a couple months late? He looked at the circled date, and then he saw a pencil on the table. Then Simon remembered.

"I'm six and three quarters," Marceline's voice rang in his head.

It was probably Marceline's birthday. He wasn't exactly sure if today was the day, it could be a couple days off, or a week or two, he hadn't really been keeping track. He could tell it was around October because of the cold weather and changing of the leaves. Marceline must have been thinking about it all week. Of course, she's just a little girl, and all little kids are excited for their birthdays.

"You saw that, huh?" Marcy said behind him, "We don't have to do anything special, if you don't want to."

Simon chuckled and turned around, "Well, of course we're going to do something! It's your birthday! And every birthday girl gets to enjoy their birthday. We're not going to have a boring old breakfast; we're going to have an awesome breakfast."

He then looked around and saw the stove. It was propane fueled and when Simon turned on the burner a little flame popped up.

"I saw a little convenience store just down the road, we can get what we need there," Simon said

Marceline smiled, "Thanks Simon, but I don't want you to have to do all this for me,"

"Nonsense, you're having an awesome birthday, whether you like it or not,"

Simon then put on his backpack and picked up Marceline to carry her on his shoulders. He walked a couple blocks until they had reached the convenience store. He set Marceline down to walk with him as he went to look at the cook books. Since they didn't have any dairy products, they'd have to find a recipe for a breakfast food that didn't require any. That's when Simon found a recipe for milk less and egg less pancakes. Simon ripped out the page and stuffed it in his pocket. He then went ahead and grabbed a basket for the supplies he'd need and proceeded to grab everything that he required. A mixing bowl, a whisk, all the ingredients for the recipe, a frying pan, birthday candles, a spatula, and syrup.

"Alright Marceline, we've got everything we need for your special birthday breakfast," he said

"Ok what are we going to have?" she asked.

"Oh you'll see,"

They made the journey back to the house and Simon set Marceline at the dinner table, put the frying pan on the burner, and turned it on. He then put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and stirred them together. Once he finished that he poured the mixture into the pan and cooked a stack of golden brown pancakes. He grabbed 2 plates from the cabinet, 2 sets of silverware, and set them on the counter. He then stacked the best of the pancakes onto one of the plates, placed 7 little candles in them, and lit them with some matches. As he carried the steaming stack of flapjacks over to Marceline he sang "Happy Birthday" to her and set the plate on the table in front of her. She blew out the candles and laughed with joy. Simon pulled out the candles and poured maple syrup on the steaming pancakes.

"Bon appetite, Marceline," he said with a smile

She hugged him so hard that it nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"Thank you so much Simon, you're the best!"

She began happily eating her pancakes as Simon ate some he had made for himself. Once he had finished, Marceline was still eating hers. He decided to go in the living room and sit down. Simon eased himself down into a chair and pulled his crown up from his side. He looked at the thing, utterly disgusted by its presence.

"Why do I even keep you?" he asked quietly.

"_Because you need me to protect her," _an icy voice whispered back.

Simon jumped; he looked around and saw that no one else was in the room.

"_Down here Simon," _

He looked and saw the crown in his hands. It was talking to him. He was getting worse, now the crown was speaking to him without him even wearing it.

"Leave me alone," he whispered, "You torture me enough as it is. Without you on my head, I can actually get a moments peace."

"_Don't be like that Simon, I'm your friend"_

"No you're not, all you want from me is my mind, my sanity, and I won't let you have it."

"_Now Simon, you're already too far gone, there's no going back, all you need is a little push into insanity, and I'd be happy to oblige."_

Simon threw the crown across the room, filled with rage.

"You won't take what little piece of me that I have left. Without it I won't be able to protect Marceline!" he yelled

Marceline walked in and saw Simon

"Is everything okay Simon?" she asked, obviously scared.

"Yeah… yeah everything's okay" he lied "Don't worry, I just lost myself for a minute."

Marcy walked back into the kitchen, confused, as Simon went back to the crown on the floor.

"You won't take me away from her," he whispered

No response came from the crown

"At least… not yet."

He walked back into the kitchen and saw an empty plate in front of Marceline.

"All done I see," he grabbed the plate and set it in the sink. He turned to see that Marceline's mouth was completely covered in syrup.

"Ugh, Marcy," he said as he poured some water onto a wash cloth, "You're a mess; you look like a little pig."

Simon was trying to wipe her mouth but she fidgeted and giggled as he tried.

"Hold still little pig!"

"You're a pig Simon!"

"Well then I guess we're both pigs!"

Together they laughed and for the rest of the day they spent the time reading stories, telling jokes, and playing games. Afterwards Marceline had passed out on the floor. Simon carefully picked her up and carried her upstairs to bed. He pulled back the covers and tucked her in with Hambo, and kissed her forehead. As he was about to close the door he looked back and said.

"Goodnight my little princess," and then he closed the door, without so much as a creak.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone I'm back again for another chapter. This chapter is by far the most epic of the ones I have written, so I hope that everyone will enjoy it. Also, if it wouldn't be too much trouble I'd appreciate it if you guys would spread the word of this story; I really want a lot of people to read this and for me to get as much feedback as possible. Just as an explanation, this takes place a couple months after the Simon and Marcy episode. Now, so I can stop wasting your time, let's get on with the story, shall we?**

Chapter 5: The Rise of Darkness

It'd had been only 4 months after Marceline's birthday and things had only gotten worse. Simon's condition with the crown had evolved. Now when he put on the crown his beard and hair grew down to his waistline, his nose would grow even longer, and his beard somehow gives him the ability to fly. But this was only one of the problems. Mutants. Horribly disfigured human corpses brought to life from the radiation of the bombing. It must have taken a while for the bodies of the humans to absorb the raw energy and mutate into those monsters. Now they hardly even looked human, with acidic goo dripping from their bodies and their strange infatuation for attacking living people. Now Simon and Marceline were traveling along a stretch of road, until they came across an abandoned shop. They decided to stop and rest, as well as gather supplies. They stepped inside and began to look for any supplies that they would need, but not before checking for any mutants in the store. After their search Simon sat down on a stool from behind the counter, when something caught his eye. A camera was on the ground next to him. He picked it up and examined it, seeing that it was in a fairly good and working condition. He saw that there was a little film left.

"Hey Marceline, look what I found!" he said

Marceline walked over and saw the camera in his hands.

"A camera? Does it work?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think so, why don't we go try it out?"

"Yeah, that sounds like fun!" she said with a smile.

They walked back outside where there was better light for the camera.

"Alright, there's a little bit of film left for the photos, so let's make sure these count, alright now stand over there, and I'll get the camera ready," he said

"Okay, gimme a minute" Marceline said, brushing dirt off her clothes and straightening her hair out.

Simon was checking the camera and making sure he'd be able to use it right. This camera was an older model of the ones he used to use in his line of work, and it didn't work like the ones he used to have.

"Okay, on the count of 3 smile and say 'cheese!', 1, 2, 3!"

Marceline gave a big grin and said cheese, as Simon took the photo. He grabbed the little photo that the camera spit out and took a look at it. Sure enough, the camera had worked, as Marceline's smile was looking right at him.

"Well, well, I believe I've captured the beauty of the most beautiful princess in the world!" he said smiling.

Marceline giggled, "Now it's your turn, Simon. Let's take one of us together."

Simon stood next to Marceline as he knelt down to her height and pulled her close and aimed the camera at them. Together they smiled and took the picture. There on a little piece of paper was their likeness, forever framed in one moment in time.

"Well there's a saying I like Marceline," he told her, "Take a photo, it'll make the moments we have last even longer." He ruffled her hair affectionately as he put the photos in his pocket, then took her hand, and continued their journey down the road.

They walked for a little over an hour, only stopping to take a rest, all while keeping an eye out for mutants. Simon could hear the low moans coming from down in the valley, but tried his best to ignore them as they continued walking. But then Simon saw something. There was white smoke rising in the distance. He quickly picked up Marceline and ran over to it as fast as he could. There they found a campsite, and judging from the smoke issuing from the fire pit, and the empty cans of food on the ground, the people who were here couldn't have gone too far. Simon couldn't breathe, after months of searching; they had finally found a sign of other people nearby. As he looked, he saw some equipment was left behind, a map and some military grade weapons. It was just a hunch, but Simon guessed, this was a camp for a reconnaissance group, going out for supplies. A group with a campsite this small wouldn't have been able to get their hands on military weapons in such a good condition. However, it seemed that the group had left in a hurry, because no sane person would leave weapons like this in the middle of nowhere unless they were in a hurry, and this sent a chill down Simon's spine.

"Simon, were people here?" Marceline asked

"I believe so Marcy, it seems that they left a little while ago, let's keep going, and maybe we'll find them up the road,"

He continued walking with Marceline in his arms. They walked, and walked, but were finding no signs of any people. Just when Simon was going to give up hope Marceline gasped.

"Simon! Look over there!" she exclaimed.

Simon turned and saw in the distance a city. However, the city had been fortified, walls spanning across miles, blocked off mutants from the city, and Simon saw that those walls were the ones the military used in the early days to block entrance to major cities. Simon rummaged through his pack and grabbed a pair of binoculars and quickly looked through them. Simon could she people, walking along the top of the walls, and letting a group of people in through the main gate, who Simon guessed were the ones who were at the campsite earlier.

"Marceline," he said struggling to find the words "I think we've found our home."

He picked her up and hugged her and the two laughed with joy. But the happiness soon ended. In the sky, fleets, upon fleets of fighter planes, were encircling a larger aircraft, holding a bomb, the size of an SUV. The fleet was making their way to the city and the large aircraft dropped the bomb. Time slowed, Simon stood there, scared, and drawing a blank on what to do. Dangling at his side was the crown, with the power to prevent the disaster about to fall upon the people of this city. If he could use it he could save the city, he could die saving it or die trying, but would Marceline be safe? All the possible outcomes were running through his mind, faster than he could even process. Simon reached for the crown, put it on his head, and with its powers, he shielded Marceline and him in a dome of thick ice to shield them from the blast.

'_People of the city, please forgive me,' _he thought

Then the bomb hit as a green mushroom cloud made of pure radiation rose, clouding the sky in an eerie green darkness. The ground beneath their feet shook and rumbled, the noise of the blast nearly destroying Simon's ears. He kept his eyes closed, not daring to look at the horrors outside the dome where they were safe. Soon the rumbling stopped and Simon was still holding Marceline as close as possible. He didn't want to face the horror that was awaiting him, but he needed to. He let go of Marcy and broke through the ice dome with a rock and walked out. The area around them was this sickening radiation green that swirled and twisted in the light of the glowing mushroom cloud. Then Simon looked to see that the city… was gone. Demolished. Wiped from the face of the planet. Simon dropped to his knees and saw the horror he could have tried to prevent, if only he could have saved them and Marceline.

"Marceline!" he said turning to face her.

But this wasn't the happy faced Marcy he knew, this was a small little girl in the fetal position rocking back and forth, tears streaming from her eyes. Simon was about to walk over to her, until he felt a great darkness. He turned and looked at the looming mushroom cloud, and felt the pure evil resonating from its core. Whatever was there was whispering. Whispering a language that Simon had never heard of. Then, a dark shadow flew from the cloud, with the speed of lightning, towards Simon. It knocked him to the ground with the force of an iron clad punch. Simon got to his feet and looked over at Marceline. A dark shadow, standing ten feet tall was looming behind the little girl. It bore a cloak of shadowy material that moved as though it were sentient, with 2 giant horns sticking from its head, and the face… oh the face was the most terrifying of all. It face was a pale bluish green, with the skin of its mouth ripped off, and 2 little green glows coming from its lifeless eye sockets. Marceline looked behind her and screamed as the monster picked her up with skeletal hands, and eyed her with a dark lust

"MARCELINE!" Simon yelled, "PUT HER DOWN! NOW!"

The creature simply looked at him and tilted its head to one side, then turned its focus back to Marceline, who was screaming and writhing in his grasp.

"I SAID," Simon froze his hand into a giant ice fist and hit the creature across the face with such force; it sent several snaggled teeth flying from the monster's mouth, and the creature fell to its hands and knees. "PUT HER DOWN!"

He then blasted the monster with snow blast upon snow blast, burying the creature in the ice and snow. Simon stopped for a moment, seeing that he had a short window of time to go over to Marceline. He got to his knees and grabbed her shoulder, and gave her Hambo to hold.

"Marceline, I need you to get out of here as fast as you can, no questions, just run! As far as you can and don't stop for anything, do you understand?!" he told her in a hurried tone.

She merely nodded, and then proceeded to run back down the road, from where they came from, holding onto Hambo as tight as she could. Simon turned with an absolutely livid look on his face, tears running down the side of his face. The monster was getting out of the snow, and turned to face Simon. It then laughed with a laugh as horrible as knives being scraped across a chalkboard.

"Ah, you are strong, mortal," it said in a deep and horrible voice, "You are able to best me, the Lich, in a fit of rage, but such childish acts will get you killed."

Simon laughed an icy laugh, "Me? Get killed? HA! The only person who's going to die today is you! You think you can hurt the ones I love, and expect to get away with it?"

"Well, since I'm about to be king of this petty world, I feel that I can do whatever I want,"

"Wrong answer!"

Simon formed a blade made of pure ice, and flew at the Lich with great speed. He slashed with such force and speed, that the Lich couldn't have any time to react. He slashed it across the face, and then blasted it with wind as strong as a hurricane. However the Lich quickly regained his stance and then, conjured green flames from his bony palms. He chucked them at Simon with incredible speed and power. As he deflected one with his sword, the blade melted in an instance and then Simon was hit with the second one, which singed a whole through his shirt. Then the Lich grabbed him in his undead hands, and howled with blood curdling rage.

"YOU DARE TO ATTACK ME!" he screamed, "I AM THE NEW GOD OF THIS WORLD AND I WILL BE TREATED WITH THE RESPECT I DESERVE!"

"RESPECT THIS!" Simon wriggled his hand free and put it in front of the Lich's face. He mustered all the strength he could manage and blasted the Lich with the force of a thousand blizzards.

There lay the Lich, barely moving in the ice and snow. Simon walked up to it and stared down at the pathetic sight. He had no pity for this thing. He then kicked it in the face, and spat on its head.

'_Now, I need to find Marceline,' _Simon thought, and he soared in the direction Marceline ran in, desperately looking for her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! Well I sure did pull an amazing d-bag move with the cliffhanger in chapter 5. I sure hope none of you will hold that against me… but of course you all will. We've come so far in Simon and Marcy's adventure so far and we are very near to the end, and dang it will make you cry and rethink your life choices once you see the ending I've got in store for you, and dear god, this chapter will make you cry so hard. I found myself tearing up a bit! Now this does not mean I'll stop writing, I plan to come back with little stories of Simon and Marcy later on in life, and maybe some fan fics that aren't possible backstories, like one where Finn and Jake go back in time to where they meet the old Simon and Betty! If you can, please leave a suggestion in the reviews for a story that you would like me to write. I won't just do adventure time, I could do Attack on Titan, Bleach, Inuyasha, Steven Universe, etc. I'm going to try and stay away from the M rated stuff for now, because I'm not really sure I want to get into it. Just give me some ideas and I'll try my best to write them. Now to get onto the story. **

Chapter 6: Short on Time

Marceline's POV

Run. Marceline did nothing but run away from the horrors behind her. The monster, the city, and the anger and fear that she saw in Simon's eyes. She was scared of all that had happened, but what she feared the most was being all alone, that if Simon didn't return she'd be all alone in the ruins of the world with no one to be there for her. All of this flashed through her head as she ran and ran, not even caring where she goes. For what seemed like an eternity Marceline slowed down, realizing her legs were sore and she was exhausted.

'_No I can't stop'_ she thought _'Simon told me to keep running and don't stop for anything, keep going ahead!'_

She sprinted as fast as her tiny legs would allow her. She didn't care about how tired she was, she didn't care how far she went, all she cared about was what Simon told her to do, that was what kept her going. Simon knows what's best in a situation like this. She ran and ran and ran, until something finally made her stop. She heard the fighting. She saw snow blowing from the direction Simon was in, she could feel the sheer power emanating far in the distance. Simon was fighting, and he was fighting a fierce battle. When he had saved her from the clutches of that monster she heard the utter fury that came from Simon yelling at the monster. At that moment Marceline realized, Simon loved her more than anything. He had cared for her, made her smile, and he had never raised his voice at her. In a way Simon was family, the only family she had right now, and right now he's fighting that monster for her. Marceline dropped Hambo and broke down crying, whether it was from fear or from anger and frustration, she couldn't tell. Then, she heard a loud "boom" in the distance where Simon was, then silence. The world had completely gone quiet waiting in anticipation of what was the outcome of the fierce battle. Marceline closed her eyes, crying; scared to face the truth of whether Simon lived or died. Then she heard footsteps. Still not looking she kept her eyes closed, terrified of what she would see if she opened them. The footsteps grew louder and louder, and soon they stopped, and Marcy knew whatever was making those footsteps was right in front of her.

"Hey sweetheart, it seems you dropped your friend," said a familiar voice.

Marceline opened her eyes. An outstretched hand held Hambo and Marceline looked up to see Simon's old withered face with a grin stretched across it. She tackled him and hugged him fiercely, and then started hitting his arm over and over.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop!" Simon said, "What was that for!?"

"You jerk! I was scared, you went to go fight that thing, and I was so worried and… and" she stammered.

"I'm sorry Marcy, I'm sorry, but I have my reasons for doing what I did and I'm sorry I left you alone, but you're safe now and that's all that matters."

Marceline broke into tears again and she put her arms around his neck and sobbed tears of joy. Simon held her in his arms as he started crying too. After a while they stood up as Marceline let go and saw that Simon was still wearing the crown on his head.

"Simon, you're still wearing the crown!" she said worriedly.

"Oh yeah, I guess I should take it off"

Simon took it off his head, and then something happened. He started shaking, and then his eyes rolled back into his head. Time slowed. All Marceline could do was watch as Simon's body, convulsed, and jerked, and then… he was still. Then, he fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Simon! Simon, wake up!" Marceline cried shaking Simon's limp body, "SIMON!"

Simon's POV

'_Wake up, Simon… It's time to wake up" _a voice called out.

Simon sat up with a jolt, and looked around to see only darkness. He touched his face and body, to make sure he was still there.

"Hello? Who's there? Marceline?" Simon cried out.

"_No, no, my dear Simon, you won't find Marceline here," said the voice, "for only the two of us can be in this world._

Then a tornado of white snow and ice swirled to form a figure in front of Simon, there stood a man clad in blue robes, with a long white beard, white lifeless eyes, a long pointed nose, blue skin, and a red jewel-encrusted crown on his head.

"Who are you?! Where am I?!" Simon exclaimed

"_I am the spirit that dwells within the crown, the one who whispers to you at night, telling you of the secrets of ice and snow, and the one who grants you control over it," _said the entity, _"I am the Ice King's spirit, we are in the recesses of your mind, and I am the one who brought you here."_

"Ice King? You're the spirit that causes me to go insane when I where the crown? Why? Why do you want my mind?" Simon asked

"_Long ago, I ruled my kingdom of frost, where I ruled with insane power, wanting to turn the world into a frosty wonderland under my control. Then, one day a god offered me the power of immortality for the price of my kingdom," _the Ice King said,_ "I was greedy, I wanted nothing more than infinite power, which I already had, and immortality, so I gladly accepted. But the god was a deceitful trickster who took my soul and trapped it in my crown, as a bodiless entity, I lived for thousands of years, traveling though auctions and antique shops, until that fateful day, when you bought my crown from that foolish dock worker in Scandinavia, you were the first to idiotically put me on your head, and that gave me the upper hand to take your body for my own, so once again the Ice King can rule!" _

"Why? Why do you want me here?" Simon asked

"_To tell you something of great importance," _with a snap of his fingers, the Ice King produced an icy blue hour glass, with only a handful of sand in the top section,_ "this is how close you are to insanity. The last time you used the crown it sped up the process substantially, now you will go insane, whether or not you wear the crown. Get rid of the crown, you'll still go insane, embrace the crown, and you'll go insane even faster. I'd say that you have about a day, with use of the crown 12 hours. Either way your time is short."_ With that the entity smiled a wicked grin.

"No… No! I can't go insane, what will I do to protect Marceline!" Simon pleaded, "I can't leave her alone. She's all I've got left. I can't bear to think what would happen if she was all alone!"

Simon shook his head back and forth, sobbing. He wanted to believe it wasn't true, to just go on with life saying this was all a bad dream, that he'd wake up with Marceline at his side, safe and sound, with that radiant smile that soothed his aching heart.

"_Too bad, your fate has been decided," _Said the King, _"Soon, I will have a body to control, and soon rule this foolish world, as I had tried to do millennia ago,"_

Simon looked up at the Ice King, with an enraged look on his face

"You can take my mind, you can take my body, and you can try to take the world for all I care," Simon said with such ferocity, "but know this, Simon Petrikov will live on, as a hero, a man of selflessness, and one who puts his life on the line for the greater good. Not only will I live on, there will be others to stop you, heroes who will defeat you time and time again, and you'll never succeed. That will all come sooner or later, but right now I have a job to do."

"_And what might that be dear Simon?"_

"I'm going to save a little girl, who has been at my side through thick and thin, who I love more than anything, a girl who became the daughter I never had, and her name. Is. MARCELINE!"

With that the world began to rumble and shake, as Simon fell into a pit of darkness, he woke up with a gasp, and Marceline crying next to him.

"Marceline!" he exclaimed, Marceline hugged him again but Simon pulled her off, "Sweetheart, we don't have much time, we need to get you to you someplace safe immediately,"

"But, Simon where do we go, there's no place where we can go… we have nothing left," Marceline said miserable

Simon pondered. So many thoughts running through his head. Where to go? What to do? Who to look for? Who? Who? Then it hit him.

"Your father!" Simon said, "We need to get you to him, he may be the only chance we have left."

"But Simon, we don't know where the Nightosphere is, or how to get there, how will we find my dad?"

"I don't know, but we've got to hurry!" he stood up and grabbed the crown. He looked down at it.

"You can have my mind, but please allow me to use your powers to get Marceline somewhere safe, I beg of you," Simon pleaded.

Silence… nothing but pure silence as Simon waited for his answer.

"_Know this Simon Pertrikov, I do not pity you, but for the time being, I shall give you my powers, without the negative effects, but only because you are the closest thing to a companion that I have had in the millennia I've spent in this crown,"_

With that Simon put the crown on his head, picked Marceline up, and soared high in the air.

"Where are we going Simon?" Marceline shouted as they flew.

"You told me when your dad would come to visit, your mom would make him appear from another room, correct?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain- wait you don't mean-?"

"Yes, we're going back to where we first met, your old home,"

With that Simon conjured the winds to give him speed in their journey, as well as guide them to where they needed to go, for Simon couldn't remember the way, all while shielding Marceline from the cold. They traveled for what seemed like hours, for the sun had set long ago, and then they found the city. Simon landed in front of the broken down toy store where the two first met, the memory of it all swirling in his head. He put Marceline down and looked at the toy store, then at the raggedy bear in Marcy's arms. Hambo had gone through a tough journey, now he had patches all over his body from when his fabric had ripped. Marceline loved that stuffed bear more than anything, and always sought comfort from it.

"Marceline, I need you to guide me to your old house, do you know where it is?" Simon asked

"Yeah it's just down the street, that way," she pointed the way, and Simon put her on his shoulders as he walked down the deserted street.

"There it is!" she pointed to an old one story house with one of the sides demolished.

He made his way to the house, and then they heard the moaning, out from the sewers, and from around the corners, a whole herd of mutants came from the darkness of the night. Simon pulled Marcy off his shoulders and held her in his arms as he ran to the abandoned house. He quickly set Marceline down as he conjured an ice dome to keep the mutants at bay. The dome was thick but the mutants acidic saliva was eating away at it, they only had a small window of time. He picked Marceline up and ran inside the house. He quickly began to look through the house. The place had been ransacked, most likely by thieves. The house was covered in overturned furniture and empty cabinets. Marceline was shivering in his arms, obviously terrified, but Simon had a feeling that it wasn't because of the mutants. He made to open a door to the demolished part of the house, when Marceline cried out.

"NO! DON'T GO IN THERE!" she cried.

Simon retracted his hand as though it were in fire, he looked at Marceline curiously.

"What's the matter, what's in there?" Simon asked

Marceline buried her face into Simon's shirt crying. He set her down and opened the door, and saw the room was covered in debris, from what he saw it was a bedroom, and that's when Simon looked down at the horrors trapped under the rubble. There lay the skeletal remains of a woman, with hollowed eye sockets and shriveled skin, and grimy black hair, Simon looked around and saw a picture frame with a photo of Marceline and a woman with black hair. Simon clenched his stomach, horrified. The skeletal remains trapped under the fallen debris… was Marceline's mother. He fought the urge to vomit, absolutely mortified at what he saw. He knelt next to the corpse.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," he said, "she may never say it, but Marceline misses you every day, I can feel it," Simon was starting to choke up, "If you could see her now, you would be so proud of her. She's smart, sweet, and probably the person I love the most. I promise, I'll get her somewhere safe,"

Simon then went to the dresser, pulled out a blanket and covered up the skeleton. He looked over at the photo and took it out of the frame and folded it, then a little piece of paper fell out of the frame, he picked it up and began to read it. It was a reminder… on how to make a portal to the Nightosphere! Simon quickly pocketed the paper, and stepped outside the bedroom. Marceline was sitting on the floor, sniffling.

"Marceline," she looked up eyes red from crying "I know how we can get you to your father… and I also found this."

He handed her the photo. She took it hesitantly and unfolded it. She looked at it, eyes tearing up, and then she started crying again. He knelt down arms open, and Marceline hugged him. She sobbed and sniffled, as Simon rubbed her back and held her close.

"Thank you," Marceline said, "Thank you so much,"

"No Marcy, thank you for everything you've given me," he said, eyes tearing up.


End file.
